Resurrection Hope

His five short years as a follower of Christ on this earth ended through a brief battle with cancer. Last night and this afternoon over a hundred relatives, businessmen and church family members gathered for, "not a funeral, so much as to celebrate a triumphal entry," to quote the preacher.

Even the most professional-looking high-powered secular businessmen were seen pulling out their handkerchiefs when his widow read her prepared speech at the end, a speech in which she gave a clear testimony to her newfound faith in Christ. For many, it was no doubt their first experience with a Christian funeral.

In the recitation of his life history, the typical facts such as parents' names, where he spent his childhood, and dates and schools he graduated from were, of course, read. In addition, the date of his baptism and name of the church and the fact that he was walking as a Christian were told.

The preacher shared that to the dead man, his diagnosis of cancer, and the subsequent operation, relapse and suffering paled in comparison to the joy of his wife coming to faith in Christ, for that was his greatest desire.

The preacher told of the man having faithfully attended Wednesday morning Bible study with other businessmen before catching his train to Tokyo for work. How many of his colleagues at one of the world's leading electronic companies have ever heard of such a thing?

They have now. And they have also heard of the Christian's hope. And they have heard that Christians do not worship the dead person. And they have seen evidence of that as we did not offer incense in front of his photograph or bow and pray to him. (The Christian funeral director kindly requested that all the guests refrain from doing so.)

One should never have to see a little boy, six years old if that, sitting next to his mother, and leaning in to ask her if she is okay, as her face quivers and the tears drop off her chin.

A middle-aged man I met in a church in Hokkaido a month ago told me that attending his father's Christian funeral a few years ago was the catalyst for his becoming a Christian. May that story be repeated many times over in the lives of the successful businessmen, relatives who are grieving without hope, and classmates of the now fatherless children, all of whom heard the Gospel yesterday and today and witnessed Christians grieving but not without hope, saying through their tears, "We don't understand God's ways, but we trust Him."